Cemex is all ready to start full production at its leasehold property in Soledad Canyon. This could cause a lot more traffic problems on the 14, along with air and water pollution in the SCV. Cemex plans to ship the aggregate all over the world. Little would be used here in the SCV.

Chiquita Canyon Landfill wants to expand after not following the terms of the permit it already has. Illegal sludge dumping and untold other toxic materials have been dumped there. Val Verde fights alone. Folks in Val Verde are getting sick from the fumes and pollution. This is for a dump that takes in more than 80 percent of its trash from outside of the SCV.

The California High Speed Rail system wants to cut a swath through Acton, Agua Dulce and Santa Clarita in Sand Canyon. This for a train few, if any, folks from the SCV will use – because no matter what, they refuse to put a station here.

Water supplies are limited, and folks who supply our water are being asked to supply more water outside of the SCV. We do our part and send water to folks who don’t need it.

The state of California says we send treated water downstream that conforms to the chloride standard that appears to be capriciously specified by the Regional Water Quality Control folks. We’ll pay extra millions to treat the wastewater to a level that’s stricter than anyplace else.

Our school districts and our cities have to change their voting methods to conform to the California Voting Rights Act. (Something that probably should have been done with the law was passed 12 years ago.)

Then there is the billboard problem. Somehow three electronic billboards, no matter the size, can’t compare to all of those other problems. It seems so out of perspective in relation to the rest of that list of problems.

Where in blazes was TimBen Boydston when the members of City Council got updates on the billboard negotiations in those “back rooms” of City Hall? Oh, he was there listening, just like the other council members. Then along came a group that thought things were illegal and started a campaign to stop the ordinance. That was followed by some billboard companies paying folks to collect signatures for the petition, and another company paying folks to block the signature gathering. TimBen still didn’t say much.

Soon the spotlight was bright enough and he started speaking out. After he had a large audience. After he thought he would get some applause. He likes to declare himself a private citizen and “speak for the people.”

Well, he can do that from the seats where the other members of the council sit. That is how he represents the people. That is what he was elected to do.

So, turnabout being fair play, I have decided that during some meeting of the City Council, I’m going to declare myself a member of that body and sit up there with them. I’ll even carry a chair. Maybe we should all do that. What is good for TimBen is good for us all. Really – fair is fair.

A couple of members of the City Council went to a meeting where specific representatives from other cities and Los Angeles County meet. TimBen Boydston was not assigned by the council to be at that meeting. He showed up anyway and spoke “as a citizen.” I’ll bet all of those other folks from other cities and places in the county were confused, or maybe they think Santa Clarita has a councilman who is just a little “off.” He took off his “councilman” hat and decided to represent “the people.”

Which people, he didn’t say. The actual people of Santa Clarita had representatives at that meeting. He said he was speaking as himself and not a member of the council.

No matter what, he was still a member of the council. That is how the people attended the meeting saw him – because that is what he is, no matter how much he might not want to be.

Would that the Cemex, the Chiquita Canyon Landfill, high-speed rail, water supply and waste water treatment problems have the same level of support that “billboard preservation” has. If all of those folks put the same amount of effort that they have put into the billboard issue, those problems might already be behind us.

The billboard preservationists – the “No on Measure S” folks – want to go for a “better deal.” They think they have the answers because they don’t like what staff negotiated.

I’m convinced they don’t really care about billboards. They only care about power. They think they are doing something for the good of the city of Santa Clarita and the entire SCV. Well, simply put, they are only swatting at flies when the big game is walking through. Cemex, Chiquita, chloride, high-speed trains, water supply, wards and district elections and, I almost forgot, the cleanup of the old Bermite Powder Co. site.

And these folks are concerned about billboards? No, they like power – or what they see as power in our little neck of the woods. They think they can get a better deal for the city.

Well, this may be the last chance to get any deal about billboards, and the city will have to just live with the huge signs, with lots of up-lights that pollute the night sky.

Unlike Val Verde, those lights aren’t toxic like the fumes and materials from the dump. Those lights aren’t toxic like the dust and pollution from Cemex. Those lights don’t cause toxins in the ground like Bermite has. Those lights won’t cause the disruption of communities and homes, churches and schools like the high-speed railway would do. Those light won’t increase the costs of treating wastewater or sending our drinking water away.

No, those lights are there and may remain. It seems so unimportant now. So unnecessary to have to vote on something that could bring the city some income. But folks think they can get a better deal. TimBen says so.

Those lights bring no income now. Thanks, Mr. Boydston. You can sit down now. The applause is over and the spotlights are off.

Darryl Manzer grew up in the Pico Canyon oil town of Mentryville in the 1960s and attended Hart High School. After a career in the U.S. Navy he returned to live in the Santa Clarita Valley. He can be reached at dmanzer@scvhistory.com. His older commentaries are archived at DManzer.com; his newer commentaries can be accessed [here]. Watch his walking tour of Mentryville [here].